Monday, March 22, 2010

Cinetica

"Among those who consult regularly with Cino is his own son Andrea, who is about to start his own bicycle company. Called Cinetica, it will market radically new frames and accessories."

Pictured above are photographs of a Cinetica "Giotto" frame that recently appeared on ebay. The black & white photo is of Andrea Cinelli.

The ebay seller wrote this description:"Here is one of the rarest racing frames ever produced. The Cinetica "Giotto". This is a true carbon fiber monocoque built racing frame. Hand made in Italy with the expertise and cooperation of 3 world class companies: Cinelli, Campagnolo, Ferarri.

In the 1980's Andrea Cinelli who hails from the Cinelli name decided to manufacture the ultimate racing frame. Along with Ferrari and Campagnolo the design was perfected and production went into effect. Sadly, only several dozen were ever made. It was just too expensive to manufacture, in 1991 these frames sold for $3500. All the Cinetica frames used Campagnolo dropouts stamped: Cinetica. As for the paint, that was provided by Ferrari along with its carbon expertise.

You will not find much info on the internet about Cinetica, it was way WAY ahead of its time. One claim to fame for this frame is the fact that it was used as a prop in 1991 in Terminator 2, Judgement Day, 1991 starring Arnold Schwarzenegger...look it up see for yourself.

Why is this frame so rare, it started it all...while everybody was messing with aluminum, Andrea Cinelli had a vision to use carbon fiber. To the best of my knowledge, I know of only 4 of these frames on the planet as of this day. In the late 1980's there were a few companies who experimented w/ carbon ...won't mention names...why ruffle feathers, the end result was failure. Cinetica was 20 years ahead of its time.

Condition: used in trade shows. This frame has traveled the world multiple times, there are some scuffs on the frame...see pics. Mileage wise: about 500 miles. This frame was mostly used as a prop and unique trade show bike.

All the cables & housing for the frame is internal (rear brake, front derailleur, rear derailleur), only the front brake cable/housing is exposed, naturally.

One more important note: because the age of the frame there are cracks in the paint. The Ferrari paint is very thick it is not the type of paint used today which is more adaptable to carbon flexing. The Cinetica's paint is a bit brittle and if needed could use a new coat. I assure you there is no carbon crack or frame damage, you are simply seeing the cracks in the 20 year old thick external paint job (see pics). The paint cracks are situated along the BB and seatpost area. Again, this is the paint and NOT the carbon fiber."

Additional information about the Cinetica history is desired.

I invite you to contribute by sending in photographs of your Cinelli bike, illustrations, personal stories, and articles about Cinelli bikes and components.

4 comments:

actually we have sold several Cineticas in our shop between 1990 and 1991. To me there are the most beautyfull bikes ever. The frame is like a sculpture. I actually recently bought a bike from Japan with C-Record, I believe it is the bike you shown above. I will put in my new house for display. At that time we directly bought the bikes from Andrea Cinelli, who was such a nice gentlemen. He developed the frame together with the Ploitechnica University Milan, using CAD software. The frame you show above it actually a later evolution, with a modified internal seat clamping. The very first frames had a visible steel binder ring. Congratualtion to your frame.